Soda Lake, Carrizo Plain, San Luis Obispo County, California, USAi
| Regional Level Types | |
|---|---|
| Soda Lake | Lake |
| Carrizo Plain | - not defined - |
| San Luis Obispo County | County |
| California | State |
| USA | Country |
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Cebuano:
Soda Lake , San Luis Obispo County, California
A salt lake that is usually dry except after rainstorms.
Salt forms a crust over fine-grained sediments, usually called mud, and this mud is a mash of crystals, usually thénardite and halite.
The best time to collect there is in late summer when the lake has had a chance to evaporate off as much water as possible and then the crystals to grow.
The salt crust is firm enough to walk on, at least in late summer, except about the edges of the lake.
Near the edges, it is very muddy, and you must take care crossing this zone lest you break through the crust and skin up your legs on the sharp salt crust.
I have never heard about anyone getting bogged down to the extent that they had to have help extracting themselves.
During dry spells, the surface of the lake, mostly halite, forms a solid crust that forms largish polygonal plates with little "thrust" ridges of halite that separate them one from another.
The accepted wisdom is that you go out fifty or a hundred yards and on any suitable halite polygon you break through the crust with a bar or pickaxe to access the mud and the crystals growing in them.
Most of what collectors collect here are crystal clusters of thénardite growing in the mud.
You must feel for these carefully because sometimes they are very sharp.
It's very dirty collecting here, and you should take a change of clothes and enough water to wash off with after the dig.
Back in the early 60s, Art Eadie, a geologist and rare species collector, dug some very large Blödite crystals from the lake but went to his grave without telling anyone where on the lake he got them or how deep or at what time of year.
Some of these reached perhaps five inches.
Since that time about the best that has been found are about a maximum of 2 inches (ca. 5 cm), and those are not common and not found on every dig.
[Rock Currier 2012]
Currently (2017) part of Carrizo Plain National Monument.
Salt forms a crust over fine-grained sediments, usually called mud, and this mud is a mash of crystals, usually thénardite and halite.
The best time to collect there is in late summer when the lake has had a chance to evaporate off as much water as possible and then the crystals to grow.
The salt crust is firm enough to walk on, at least in late summer, except about the edges of the lake.
Near the edges, it is very muddy, and you must take care crossing this zone lest you break through the crust and skin up your legs on the sharp salt crust.
I have never heard about anyone getting bogged down to the extent that they had to have help extracting themselves.
During dry spells, the surface of the lake, mostly halite, forms a solid crust that forms largish polygonal plates with little "thrust" ridges of halite that separate them one from another.
The accepted wisdom is that you go out fifty or a hundred yards and on any suitable halite polygon you break through the crust with a bar or pickaxe to access the mud and the crystals growing in them.
Most of what collectors collect here are crystal clusters of thénardite growing in the mud.
You must feel for these carefully because sometimes they are very sharp.
It's very dirty collecting here, and you should take a change of clothes and enough water to wash off with after the dig.
Back in the early 60s, Art Eadie, a geologist and rare species collector, dug some very large Blödite crystals from the lake but went to his grave without telling anyone where on the lake he got them or how deep or at what time of year.
Some of these reached perhaps five inches.
Since that time about the best that has been found are about a maximum of 2 inches (ca. 5 cm), and those are not common and not found on every dig.
[Rock Currier 2012]
Currently (2017) part of Carrizo Plain National Monument.
Select Mineral List Type
Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical ElementsMineral List
Mineral list contains entries from the region specified including sub-localities8 valid minerals.
Detailed Mineral List:
| ⓘ Bassanite Formula: Ca(SO4) · 0.5H2O |
| ⓘ Blödite Formula: Na2Mg(SO4)2 · 4H2O |
| ⓘ 'Clay minerals' |
| ⓘ Gypsum Formula: CaSO4 · 2H2O |
| ⓘ Halite Formula: NaCl |
| ⓘ Hanksite Formula: Na22K(SO4)9(CO3)2Cl References: |
| ⓘ Löweite Formula: Na12Mg7(SO4)13 · 15H2O |
| ⓘ Mirabilite Formula: Na2SO4 · 10H2O Description: Occurs as a large deposit. |
| ⓘ Thénardite Formula: Na2SO4 Colour: colorless |
List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification
| Group 3 - Halides | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ⓘ | Halite | 3.AA.20 | NaCl |
| Group 7 - Sulphates, Chromates, Molybdates and Tungstates | |||
| ⓘ | Thénardite | 7.AD.25 | Na2SO4 |
| ⓘ | Hanksite | 7.BD.30 | Na22K(SO4)9(CO3)2Cl |
| ⓘ | Löweite | 7.CC.45 | Na12Mg7(SO4)13 · 15H2O |
| ⓘ | Blödite | 7.CC.50 | Na2Mg(SO4)2 · 4H2O |
| ⓘ | Mirabilite | 7.CD.10 | Na2SO4 · 10H2O |
| ⓘ | Gypsum | 7.CD.40 | CaSO4 · 2H2O |
| ⓘ | Bassanite | 7.CD.45 | Ca(SO4) · 0.5H2O |
| Unclassified | |||
| ⓘ | 'Clay minerals' | - | |
List of minerals for each chemical element
| H | Hydrogen | |
|---|---|---|
| H | ⓘ Bassanite | Ca(SO4) · 0.5H2O |
| H | ⓘ Blödite | Na2Mg(SO4)2 · 4H2O |
| H | ⓘ Gypsum | CaSO4 · 2H2O |
| H | ⓘ Löweite | Na12Mg7(SO4)13 · 15H2O |
| H | ⓘ Mirabilite | Na2SO4 · 10H2O |
| C | Carbon | |
| C | ⓘ Hanksite | Na22K(SO4)9(CO3)2Cl |
| O | Oxygen | |
| O | ⓘ Bassanite | Ca(SO4) · 0.5H2O |
| O | ⓘ Blödite | Na2Mg(SO4)2 · 4H2O |
| O | ⓘ Gypsum | CaSO4 · 2H2O |
| O | ⓘ Hanksite | Na22K(SO4)9(CO3)2Cl |
| O | ⓘ Löweite | Na12Mg7(SO4)13 · 15H2O |
| O | ⓘ Mirabilite | Na2SO4 · 10H2O |
| O | ⓘ Thénardite | Na2SO4 |
| Na | Sodium | |
| Na | ⓘ Blödite | Na2Mg(SO4)2 · 4H2O |
| Na | ⓘ Halite | NaCl |
| Na | ⓘ Hanksite | Na22K(SO4)9(CO3)2Cl |
| Na | ⓘ Löweite | Na12Mg7(SO4)13 · 15H2O |
| Na | ⓘ Mirabilite | Na2SO4 · 10H2O |
| Na | ⓘ Thénardite | Na2SO4 |
| Mg | Magnesium | |
| Mg | ⓘ Blödite | Na2Mg(SO4)2 · 4H2O |
| Mg | ⓘ Löweite | Na12Mg7(SO4)13 · 15H2O |
| S | Sulfur | |
| S | ⓘ Bassanite | Ca(SO4) · 0.5H2O |
| S | ⓘ Blödite | Na2Mg(SO4)2 · 4H2O |
| S | ⓘ Gypsum | CaSO4 · 2H2O |
| S | ⓘ Hanksite | Na22K(SO4)9(CO3)2Cl |
| S | ⓘ Löweite | Na12Mg7(SO4)13 · 15H2O |
| S | ⓘ Mirabilite | Na2SO4 · 10H2O |
| S | ⓘ Thénardite | Na2SO4 |
| Cl | Chlorine | |
| Cl | ⓘ Halite | NaCl |
| Cl | ⓘ Hanksite | Na22K(SO4)9(CO3)2Cl |
| K | Potassium | |
| K | ⓘ Hanksite | Na22K(SO4)9(CO3)2Cl |
| Ca | Calcium | |
| Ca | ⓘ Bassanite | Ca(SO4) · 0.5H2O |
| Ca | ⓘ Gypsum | CaSO4 · 2H2O |
Fossils
This region is too big or complex to display the fossil list, try looking at smaller subregions.Other Databases
| Wikipedia: | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soda_Lake_(San_Luis_Obispo_County) |
|---|---|
| Wikidata ID: | Q7347727 |
| GeoNames ID: | 5396941 |
Localities in this Region
- California
- San Luis Obispo County
- Carrizo Plain
- Soda Lake
- Carrizo Plain
- San Luis Obispo County
Other Regions, Features and Areas that Intersect
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References
Soda Lake, Carrizo Plain, San Luis Obispo County, California, USA